REU Site: Laser-Matter Interactions on Atomic and Nanoscales

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This award supports an REU site at Kansas State University to focus on interactions of laser light with matter at atomic and nanoscales. The ten-week program will involve twelve undergraduate students, most of whom will come from institutions where research at this level is not available.The participants will engage in significant research projects and related experiences during the summer. At the core of the program are the research projects with mentors from our faculty. Participants will do research on how atoms and molecules behave in intense and ultra-fast optical and X-ray pulses, how scattered laser light reveals the structure of nanoparticle crystallization and gel formation, how light interacts non-linearly in optical fibers; they will develop computer codes for calculations of atomic interactions in Bose-Einstein condensates and codes for modeling nanoparticle self-assembly from superlattices to gels. This experience will be supplemented by a lecture series to provide the background to the student projects, student presentations, and discussion of ethical behavior in science. This award is co-funded by the Divisions of Physics and Materials Research.